The benefits of Australia’s next fleet of submarines being built in Australia will be pushed to a national and international audience this morning in Adelaide.
The Minister for Defence Industries Martin Hamilton-Smith will join Federal Defence Minister Kevin Andrews and Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten this morning in addressing around 100 delegates at the Royal United Services Institute of Australia’s Future Submarine Summit.
Mr Hamilton-Smith said it was an opportunity to remind not only Federal politicians but leaders from the defence industry around the world why it was so important for a local build.
“We must stop thinking about shipbuilding projects as isolated events,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.
“We must also explode the myth that an overseas purchase is somehow cheaper.
“Australia’s new fleet of submarines need to be built here in Australia, based in Adelaide supported by shipyards in Victoria and New South Wales.
“Building it in Australia not only benefits the South Australian economy, every state and territory will benefit.
“It will not only benefit the workers in Osborne, but workers in Fremantle, Williamstown, Newcastle and even Canberra.”
Mr Hamilton-Smith South Australia would continue to call on the Commonwealth to commit to a build in Australia based not only on jobs, but on what’s best for defending our nation.
“It’s about our ability as a nation to defend ourselves with ships we have built, ships that we can maintain, ships that we can upgrade,” he said.
“This is not a pitch for jobs in South Australia – it is about calling on the Commonwealth to make their decision in the best interests of the nation.
“In the final decision, cost alone must not be the overriding factor. We must look at the big picture; truly examine what a project of this size and scale can do for our country.”